Drinking cup



March 27, 1934. G: HQGAN 1,952,435

' DRINKING cur Fil ed Jan. 27, 19:52

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE V6 Claims.

This invention relates to drinking cups and is concerned particularlywith improvements in the v. paper drinking cups now in current use.

Paper drinking cups as usually made are tapered from top to bottom, somebeing made conical in shape, others being made flat with tapering sidesand stillother forms having a frusto-conical shape. These paper drinkingcups are usually dispensed from a holder in which the cups are securedin telescoped or stacked relation and are so held in the holder that onecup may be withdrawn at a time, usually the lower one. The paper cupsare also usually coated with parafline and have a smooth surface.Difiiculty is frequently experienced in abstracting one of the cups fromits holder, primarily because the sloping sides thereof prevent the userfrom obtaining a good grip thereon. Also, the smooth parafiinecoatedsurface thereof provides little purchase for the grasp of the user. Itis the principal object of this invention to provide a drinking cup ofthe usual type and form with means whereby it may be more readilygrasped and especially more easily withdrawn from the usual type ofholder .or dispenser in which it is supplied to the user.

This object is obtained in a preferred embodiment of the invention whichcomprises a paper drinking cup of any desired form or shape, whetherflat, conical or frusto-conical, and having on its surface at the pointwhere it is grasped by the user, one or more projections, preferablyconsisting of embossments pressed through the paper of the cup when itis formed in the dies or other forming devices. These embossmentspreferably take the form of crescents, circles, ridges, or the like, andare preferably located in the surface of the cup adjacent its lowerportion or wherever the user grasps it to remove it from the holder ordispenser or in utilizing it in the usual way for filling and drinking pFor a better understanding of this invention reference is made to theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 illustrates a drinking cupembodying this invention mounted in a standard form of dis- 'penser.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrates modified forms of the invention; and Fig. 7 isan enlarged section through one of the embossments as seen along theline 77 of Fig. 5.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of this drawing is illustrated a conical paper drinkingcup 10, having formed on the surface thereof adjacent its lower end aplurality of projections 11 arranged in rows. These projections 11 areformed on the cup at the point where the paper is of double thickness,so that the hole in the outer layer produced by the embossing operationdoes not cause the cup to leak. These embossments are formed in thepaper at the proper points before or during the cup-forming operation.These embossments are preferably crescent-shaped in plan, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2 and are spur-like in shape when viewed in cross-section,as shown in Fig. 3 which also illustrates how the inner layer of paperseals the hole formed in the outer layer by the embossment 11 Theseprojections roughen the otherwise smooth surface of the cup at the pointwhere it is grasped by the user either in withdrawing it from the holderor while holding it for filling and drinking purposes. It will be seenthat when the cup 10 is mounted in the usual dispenser 12, as

illustrated in Fig. 1, it may be more readily grasped and withdrawnbecause of the projections 11 on its surface in spiteof the taper andsmoothness of the cup, which ordinarily makes" tion and are withdrawn bythe frictional engagement of the users fingers'with one flat surfacethereof, usually the lower surface. Because of the smooth surface of thecup and the weight of the stack of cups resting on this lowermost cup,it is frequently difficult to withdraw it from the dispenser withoutconsiderable effort. In accordance with this invention, the flat tab 14of the cup 13, shown in Fig. 4 is provided with the projections 11'embossed in the paper. The tab 14 is embossed so that the doublethickness of paper will prevent leakage in the manner described andillustrated in Fig. 3. These embossments ii on the lowersm'face of thecups as they are mounted in the dispenser aid the user to withdraw a.cup therefrom by providing a frictional gripping surface on the cup.These embossments 11' also permit a firmer grip on the cup for fillingand drinking purposes after it has been opened for use.

In another form of flat cup 15 illustrated in Fig. 5 the cup has littlearea of double thickness and the embossments 16 are formed in the paperwithout perforating the same, as shown in the section of Fig. 6, whichis taken through one of these embossments 16. This method of rougheningthe surface of paper cups may also be applied to the cup shown in Figs.1 to 4, inclusive, since it is not necessary, but only more convenient,to place the embossments in the outer layer of the two-ply areaillustrated by Fig. 3.

The more rigid frusto-conical paper cup illustrated in Fig. 6 may alsobe provided with the embossed projections 11" for the same purpose.

It will be seen that the use of the ordinary paper drinking cups ofvarious forms and shapes is made easier by the present invention andmany of the objections to these cups as formerly provided are obviated.These embossed projections on the cups may be arranged anywhere on thesurface thereof, depending upon requirements, and may be of any shape orform other than the crescent shape illustrated and described herein.These embossments can be formed when the cup is being pressed into shapeor afterward, and in no way interfere with the strength or efiicacy ofthe cups and are so shaped as topermit ready separation of the nestedcups and prevent them from sticking together.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described hereinit is to be understood that it is not limited thereby but is susceptibleof changes in form and detail within its scope.

I claim:

1. As a. new article of manufacture, a drinking cup of flexible materialhaving projections 1,es2,4ss

formed on the outer surface thereof by distortion of the paper, said,distortions being sufiicient in number and sufllciently close togetherto provide a gripping portion from which ones fingers will not readilyslip.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a paper drinking cup havingprojections embossed on the surface thereof adjacent its lower end, theembossments of said surface being sufiicient in number and suflicientlyclose together to provide a gripping portion from which ones fingerswill not readily slip.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a paper drinking cup having sets ofprojections on diametrically opposite surfaces thereof formed bydistortion of the paper, said distortions being sufficient in number andsufliciently close together to provide gripping portions from which onesfingers will not readily slip.

.4. As a new article of manufacture, a fiat paper drinking cup adaptedto be opened by the user and having at least one surface thereofroughened by distortion of the paper, said distortions being sufficientin number and sufficiently close togetherv to provide a gripping portionfrom which ones fingers will not readily slip.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a fiat paper drinking cup adapted tobe opened by the user and having projections embossed on at least onefiat surface thereof, said projections being sufiicient in number andsufficiently close together to provide a gripping portion from whichones fingers will not readily slip.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a paper cup having at least aportion comprising a plurality of layers of the paper, and projectionsembossed in the outer layer of paper, said projections being sealedagainst leakage by the inner layer of the paper and being sufiicient innumber and sufiiciently close together to provide a gripping portionfrom which ones fingers will not readily slip.

GEORGE FRANCIS HOGAN.

